Celebration of the 100th anniversary of a ceremony introduced in 1923 by Dr. Norbert Capek, founder of Czech Unitarian in Prague. The ceremony includes a flower exchange. The congregation members bring flowers to be exchanged and taken home after the ceremony.

We will visit the historic First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn Heights, the home church of Charlotte Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1923), the Brooklyn-born First Lady of newly formed Czechoslovakia in 1918. Both her husband, Tomas Masaryk, and her son Jan spoke from this church's pulpit. Charlotte Garrigue Masaryk was instrumental in developing close ties of this church with the Czechoslovak Unitaria. The ninth of this Brooklyn church, Rev. John Howland Lathrop, headed a relief program in Czechoslovakia following World War II. You can find some memorabilia and photos in the church.

The song “Aj lúčka, lúčka široká” is traditionally sung on this occasion in Czech. Its text will be available to non-Czech speakers in phonetic transcription.

Please let the organizer know if you would like to join us for lunch at a local restaurant, so we can make a reservation. 

The event is organized by the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, New York Chapter, with support of BBLA.